Last Saturday saw four of Coventry’s bands playing together for no good reason except that it seemed like a good idea at the time. Fighting Boredom headed down for a night of beer, indie and laughter with friends.

Tonight we get four bands on in a pub just outside Coventry city centre, all for free, well, no one asked us for any money… Fighting Boredom are here as at least two of the bands have members that we have known for years and consider friends.

This is the first time I’ve seen Lies, and that is a mistake. They start off before we arrive but the first song we see is post-punk, funky, spaced out and very cool. The sound is rambling and loose, sharp and to the point. They go on to slow and grinding, this is people creating the music they love which is reflected in the way they play, strong and hard. The edge to the music is the streak of funk a mile wide that pulses out from the stage, until they slide down into an incredibly deep dub bass line and everything else just gives way before it, odd guitar note and vocals shine through but the bass is dominating and all intrusive. They build the sound around the massive dark notes and the swells remind you of a less antagonistic and hateful P.i.L. The dub carries them to where they need to be, overpowering the funk and taking hold of the sound until you are moving subconsciously, Lies are great, find them.

The Pristines have the same drummer as Lies which is handy as he doesn’t have to adjust anything. He is officially the hardest working man in rock this evening. The Pristines are Jon Hardy’s band and I expected sweet, jangly indie. Boy was I wrong. They may have been softer before but tonight they got dirty. They still play indie but they play full on powerful, emotional indie. They shoegaze but with the feeling that seems to have been forgotten by many bands, the sounds builds into a hard wave and then breaks to a soft surf. They gel properly about a third of the way through the set, where the sound comes together and is just perfect. They are as catchy as hell and just cool. Then they kick it up a gear and the guitars, bass and drums echo the Birthday Party and the Gun Club, it’s only grounded by Jon’s voice, they split off into sixties garage punk and Beatlesy psychedelia, a great set.

Sophie Corona play seventies punk mixed with Feelgood Pub Rock, it’s straightforward and not complicated. The music is basic and at times verging on falling apart but that’s the point I think. The vocal is angry and loud which goes well with the sound of the band. It’s revved up and fed with adrenaline. At one point they draw comparisons with that hard sixties vibe that bands like the Who did so well. There’s a brief foray into two tone ska but that slip easily back into harder punked up territory. They end by opening up the mike to a poet but I can’t hear her properly so can’t comment unfortunately.

Moonbears are on last and they are slick and professional. The vocal is smooth and slow, the music is soft, cool and has a softer rock edged groove. They have a pop edge and the sound collects the funky rock of the eighties alongside the slickness of bands like 10cc and Sparks. They play like they are classic rock stars and of course they probably should be.

Fighting Boredom leave full of beer and smiling. A great night but it’s tarnished by the fact that the pub is closing next month and Coventry will have lost another venue for it’s flourishing scene of small bands. Catch them while you can, while they have places to play.